The Honduran army ousted leftist President Manuel Zelaya and exiled him on Sunday in Central America’s first military coup since the Cold War, after he upset the army by trying to seek another term in office.

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Speaking on Venezuelan state television, Chavez — who has long championed the left in Latin America — said he would do everything necessary to abort the coup against his close ally.

A military plane flew Zelaya to Costa Rica and CNN’s Spanish-language channel said he had asked for asylum there.

After Zelaya “upset” the Army? Tsk tsk, Reuters…. it is much more than that, as you shall see.

But the Reuter’s “journalist” (ha… a bit of humor there) is not alone in misinforming the world on Zelaya’s story, and masking the truth. Also racing to defend Zelaya is the American POTUS… apparently now unafraid to “meddle” in foreign affairs while parroting the same meaningless words ” deeply concerned”:

“I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. As the Organization of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference,” President Obama said in a brief statement on Sunday morning.

Interesting that the big Zero and (when it comes to Iranian human abuse and election fraud) Eunuch in Chief now solemnly evokes what he casts aside as unimportant INRE Iran… the promotion of democracy and the rule of law.

INRE Obama’s sudden fascination with promoting democracy, he uses a charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter that plainly states it exists to encourage the spread of democracy in the Americas’ hemisphere. Apparently, this WH occupant needs a formal document to stand up for human rights and freedom in the world.

But that bit about “rule of law” has got to be an idiot test. If “rule of law” is behind Obama’s newly discovered balls to meddle with such strong statements (or so the media and lib/progressives insist they are) like “deeply concerned”, one may consider that it was Zelaya, himself, who was ignoring the Honduras “rule of law”. It was his insistence to hold a referendum vote to change the nation’s Constitution that the Honduras Congress, the electoral tribunal, and their Supreme Court stated was illegal.

After Congress declared the Sunday referendum illegal, Zelaya found himself in a standoff with the country’s main institutions. Honduras’ Supreme Court and electoral tribunal also declared the referendum illegal and, when the armed forces refused to distribute the ballots, Zelaya ousted armed forces chief General Romeo Vásquez. Top army officials and the defense minister resigned in protest. The court ordered Vásquez reinstated, Zelaya refused, and the attorney general said Congress should force the president to step down, questioning his mental stability. The Catholic Church in Honduras joined in voicing opposition to the referendum.

While the afore linked article on the Council of the America’s site suggests that what would be amended in the Honduras Constitution was not clear, the results of a successful amendment were blatantly clear.. the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of other Latin American presidents, such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, and Colombia’s Álvaro Uribe by extending or removing Presidential term limits.

Quite frankly, the man deserved to be ousted. But very revealing is Obama’s quick support, along with the EU, for Zelaya… an unpopular Marxist/leftist leader with even less popularity in his nation that Bush had in the US at his lowest point.

It might be poignant to note that this same treaty was evoked for the first time in April of 2002, when a coup temporarily removed Chavez for about 47 hours. The EU and Mexico’s Vicente cried “foul”, citing the charter, while the Bush admin threw it’s support to the new government. Chavez and the British newspaper, The Observer (via a Guardian report) accused Bush officials (including Elliot Abrams, Otto Reicht, Ollie North and John Negroponte) of aiding in the orchestrating of the coup d’etat. The coup was reversed before a General Assembly of charter members could be formed.

Looking retrospect… leaving that despot in power was a lost opportunity. Circumstances of that rebellion are completely different that Zelaya’s. In today’s case of Honduras, the exiled President is clearly governing against Honduras law. His ouster should stand.

Hard Right

uri

What has happened in Honduras is very welcome news!. It is a political system that is leading to no where. Chavez has been “elected” President of Venezuela for life and the votes were manipulated, the same way that it was in Iran.
People in Latin America has just started to enjoy free elections and how democracy works, so electing a president for life again is something that they do not like. Chavez gave the wrong example.
The Honduras are less sophisticated and they took care of this individual, Zelaya, the latin way. That is the way that this ‘Barbudos” understand the language of no. Now we need to focus on Paraguay where people cannot wait to get rid of this immoral ex-Bishop President who fathered 5 illegitimate children while he was a Bishop!.
Argentina started to walk the walk as of yesterday, and Kichnerismo is no longer in control. Latin american voters are not as naive as people think and Americans need to look South to learn that government cannot be the answer to solve our problems.

bbartlog

What has happened in Honduras is very welcome news!. It is a political system that is leading to no where […] The Honduras are less sophisticated and they took care of this individual, Zelaya, the latin way.

This is condescending and based on what I’ve read simply wrong. The Honduran military didn’t step in at the drop of a hat; they waited for the Supreme Court to rule against the president. And in fact it appears that the first act of naked aggression here was not by the military, but involved Zelaya’s supporters breaking in to a military facility to grab some ballots that the military was holding. The deal is that Zelaya wanted a referendum held to extend his rule, but the Honduran constitution doesn’t allow itself to be amended in this way (hence the military wasn’t going to let Zelaya use the ballots he had printed up).
Further, the military didn’t appoint some general to replace Zelaya – they put the head of Congress in charge, again consistent with their constitution. If the military there (like ours) takes an oath to uphold the constitution, I’d say they discharged it perfectly.

Erik R

I know some press reports describe Zelaya supporters as breaking into a military base for the ballots. Tht’s not quite accurate as Zelaya himself led his followers to the Air Force base to get the ballots (printed in Venezuela btw).

My point is that the Honduran military practiced a lot of restraint in the face of Zelaya’s provocations. Even in the aftermath, they are keenly aware of how it will play out if they get heavy handed with the protectors.

My sources tell me that the opposition party and members of Zelaya’s party are staying cool and off the streets. Their strategy is to let Zelaya’s supporters express themselves and not allow a confrontation in the streets happen.

Zelaya brought this on himself and I understand the accusation from the Attorney General about his mental fitness. What the hell was he thinking! My source next to the air base in Tegucigalpa that on Thursday night, the military was already deploying their forces. He defied the military and his own government, he got what he deserved and is lucky to be alive. IMHO.

SinCity CPT

What we are seeing in Honduras is a perfect example of the checks and balances system at work. The President is attempting to subvert the constitution by setting up a referendum to change election law. The Supreme Court and Congress of Honduras have both agreed that what Zelaya tried to do was illegal. The military was enforcing a decision by the Supreme Court.

Military officers swear an oath (here and I would assume there is a similar oath in the Honduran Army) to support and defend the constitution. A good example to use (albeit a smaller scale) is the use of the National Guard to enforce the Supreme Court ruling on desegregation in schools.

It is sad that our administration is supporting Zelaya in his attempt to subvert his country’s laws. At the same time they choose to support a president in Iran who is subverting his country’s election laws.

Goes to show you how much respect they have for constitutional law.

Again, the media ( except for the WSJ), has been woefully inadequate in providing the full story

Slowtrot

ditto

The Democratic party is anti-democratic. the “superdelegates” is proof of that. They cooked that little star chamber process up because they don’t really trust the democratic process via the people in their own party.